No drinking water in Telangana's Nagarkurnool villages

NAGARKURNOOL: Despite tall claims made by the State government and the authorities concerned that they have managed to provide adequate quantity of drinking water to all areas across the State, with the help of various schemes implemented and projects taken up, the situation is reportedly not the same in the several areas of Nagarkurnool district.

Though situated on the banks of Krishna river, areas like Kollapur mandal are suffering from an acute shortage of drinking water after the Mission Bhagiratha pipeline at Yelloor Reservoir got damaged. According to sources, the authorities used to supply around four Millions of Litres per Day (MLD) to Kollapur municipality from the Singotam Rantalaxmi gutta, through tanks.

They were also providing water to as many as 57 villages under Kollapur, Pentlavelli, Veepanagandla and Chinnam Bavi mandals. It is lear nt that these areas were being covered using the pipeline that was laid for Bollaram and Kondur villages. With this pipeline developing a glitch, several villages, under mandals like Pentlavelli, Madhavi Swami Nagar, Engampally Thanda, Manchala Katta, Malleswaram and Kollapur, situated on the coastal areas of the district are suffering a lot.

When Express interacted with the sarpanches of a few affected villages, they pointed out the absence of a separate Mission Bhagiratha pipeline to their areas as the major reason behind this situation. As a result, the local residents of these villages are forced to depend on the bore wells and use hand pumps to fetch drinking water, the sarpanches added. Meanwhile, this situation has reportedly put the denizens of Kollapur municipality too in dire straits.

When Express contacted the DE of Kollapur Rural Water Supply and Sanitation (RWS&S) Department, Ramesh, to comment on the issue, he admitted that some areas are facing a shortage of drinking water. The usage of old pipelines, and not replacing them with new ones on time, is reportedly leading to situations like this, he said. “We plan to construct a new gate valve and pipeline at the Yelloor reservoir to put a permanent end to this crisis,” Ramesh said. He also mentioned that they are currently carrying out repair works on the existing pipeline to curb leakages.

Supply hit
Water supply to several areas on the banks of Krishna river hit a roadblock  after the Mission Bhagiratha
pipeline Yelloor Reservoir; Authorities said they are looking into the issue and promise to soon end the villagers’ suffering.